Two people were knifed to death and five more wounded in a knife attack in south-east France Saturday in what officials are investigating as a terror attack, New York Post reports.

The attacker entered a tobacconist shop in Romans-sur-Isère, South of Lyon, and stabbed the owners and a customer.  He then attacked more people at two other shops before being arrested. The attacker, who has not been identified, was apprehended near the scene of the attack as he was kneeling on the ground and praying in Arabic, according to France’s counter-terrorism prosecutor’s office.

The victims were people who had ventured out of their homes to go shopping for groceries during the countrywide coronavirus lockdown. Two of the wounded are said to be in a critical condition.

He began his brutal spree by slitting the throat of a man who had just left for a walk — in front of the victim’s girlfriend and son. He then made his way to a tobacco shop, where he stabbed the tobacconist and two customers before entering a butcher shop. There, he grabbed another knife and attacked a woman with the blunt end of the weapon as shoppers sought refuge.

The butcher’s shop owner, Ludovic Breyton, said: “He took a knife, jumped over the counter, and stabbed a customer, then ran away. My wife tried to help the victim but in vain.”

The prosecutor’s office said in a statement that initial investigations suggest the attacker had “a determined murderous course aimed at seriously disturbing public order by intimidation or terror,” the BBC reported.

President Emmanuel Macron described the attack as an “odious” incident that further saddened a country already going through an ordeal.

“My thoughts are with the victims of the attack in Romans-sur-Isère as well as the wounded and their families,” Macron tweeted. “All the light will be shed on this odious act…”

Prosecutors said the suspect was a Sudanese refugee in his 30s who lived in the town. Police said, two other people have also been arrested.

A housekeeping worker at an Arizona hospital has been fired from his job, and subsequently arrested, for stealing and hoarding medical supplies in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, as ABC News reports.

The suspect is 49-year-old Keith Brown, who worked at the Yavapai Regional Medical Center in Prescott, Arizona. He was arrested and charged with one count of theft and one count of fraud, after police discovered $1,700 worth of medical equipment in his car and his house. Brown was fired from his job shortly after the arrest.

Among the items he was hoarding were “gloves, hand sanitizer, scrubs, wash cloths, paper towels, masks, bleach cleaner, toilet paper, and an automatic hand sanitizer,” according to Lieutenant Jon Brambila of the Prescott Police Department.

Police are cooperating with the hospital to expedit a return of the stolen equipment once they are determined to be safe to use. Yavapai County has recorded 43 cases of the coronavirus since the outbreak started.

China, in an effort to save its own reputation following the global outbreak of the coronavirus, has been selling medical equipment to other countries. But it has recently come under fire for not selling enough equipment to certain countries, as well as selling faulty equipment in massive numbers.

First, Breitbart reports that China has sold only 1,000 ventilators to the United States since the outbreak began, with those ventilators going to New York state. Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) praised China for the donation despite the small number, saying that “we finally got some good news today,” and that “this is a big deal.”

Globally, China has sent out approximately 3.86 billion masks to other countries, as well as 37.5 million pieces of other protective clothing, an additional 15,000 ventilators, and 2.84 million testing kits.

But multiple countries around the world, particularly in Europe, have reported that much of the medical equipment sent by China has proven defective. The Netherlands issued a recall of over 600,000 masks out of a shipment of 1.3 million, since those masks “did not meet quality standards.” In Spain, thousands of test kits were rejected after they proved to be unreliable.

In both cases, Chinese spokespeople fired back and shifted the blame onto the recipient countries, claiming that they had told the Netherlands that “the masks are non-surgical,” and argued that Spain’s claims “did not reflect the full facts.”

The Trump campaign has been anonymously donating thousands of meals to hospitals to thank frontline staff during the coronavirus outbreak, according to Fox News. 

Since last week, the president’s reelection campaign “has been calling local restaurants and ordering large amounts of food to be sent to hospitals across the country, including in the pandemic hot spots of New York, New Jersey, Washington state, and Michigan.” The campaign has been placing these orders anonymously, Fox News learned.

“They’re doing it as a donor who cares,” one source told Fox News. “So nothing politically is tied to it. … We’re just trying to, you know, show a thank you.”

Another source said, “They’re trying to send things that are like, local restaurants that may need support [and] cool restaurant icons of the area that may need the business.”

The source told Fox News that the campaign has spent tens of thousands of dollars and they plan to expand in the coming days and weeks.

Several establishments confirmed the orders were indeed placed anonymously. Giovanni’s Italian Deli in Secaucus, N.J., told the outlet that an anonymous individual placed an order for delivery to Hudson Regional Hospital. It included 40 platters of pasta, salads, and sandwiches.

“They only told us their first name,” an employee of Giovanni’s told Fox News on Thursday. “They called us, and they had us donate meals for the nurses and doctors — an assortment of things, 40 platters of pasta, salads, sandwiches.”

The employee added: “We’re happy to do it. Trust me.”

Fox news reports, orders were also placed with Nick’s Grill in Kirkland, Wash.; Chit Chat Diner in Morristown, N.J.; Turning Point of Long Branch, N.J.; and Antonio’s Trattoria in the Bronx, N.Y., among others.

The manager of Antonio’s Trattoria, said that a man called the restaurant Monday to have “100 individual orders” delivered to Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx.

“It was 20 penne vodkas, 20 pastas with tomato sauce, 30 chicken parmesans, and 30 house salads with grilled chicken,” the manager told Fox News. “He only gave his first name and said he wanted to remain anonymous.”

An Instagram post from the Chit Chat Diner said: “An anonymous donation providing lunch to some hard working staff at Hackensack Hospital this afternoon. We are so grateful. #njstrong #prayersforeveryone#wewillgetthroughthis #letsallbewell#stayhome  #stayhealthy”

The campaign plans to continue placing the orders to feed medical personnel, as the pandemic continues to strain the country’s hospital system.

The FBI ran a record number of gun background checks on Americans in March as Americans armed themselves amid growing fears about the coronavirus pandemic.

According to The Daily Caller:

The March 2020 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 2,375,525 is an increase of 80.4 percent compared to the March 2019 NAAF-adjusted NICS figure of 1,317,114. For comparison, the unadjusted March 2020 FBI NICS figure 3,709,562 reflects a 42.4 percent increase from the unadjusted FBI NICS figure of 2,604,927 in March 2019.

The first quarter 2020 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 4,841,126 reflects an increase of 41.8 percent over the 3,414,361 figure for first quarter 2019.

Please note: Twenty-five states currently have at least one qualified alternative permit, which under the Brady Act allows the permit-holder, who has undergone a background check to obtain the permit, to purchase a firearm from a licensed dealer without a separate additional background check for that transfer. The number of NICS checks in these states does not include these legal transfers based on qualifying permits and NSSF does not adjust for these transfers. Recently, the states of Alabama and Michigan had law changes that affected their Brady Law standing which removed qualifying alternate permits usage for firearm transactions. These changes went into effect July 22, 2019 for Alabama, and March 3, 2020 for Michigan. In March 2020, Alabama state’s NSSF-adjusted NICS was 212.1 percent higher than March 2019, which accounts for an additional 41,348 checks over this time last year. March 2020 NICS numbers for Michigan were up 210.8% over March 2019 and account for an additional 57,599 checks.

These numbers represent the number of firearm background checks initiated through the NICS but not the number of firearms sold or sales dollars. Some people getting a check may buy several firearms at once or within a one month period.

“This is overwhelming evidence that Americans value their ability to take responsibility for their own safety in times of uncertainty,” said Mark Oliva, spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents gunmakers. “The figures are simply eye-popping.”

To deal with potential shortages in blood donors, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that it was lifting certain restrictions on who is allowed to give blood, as reported by CNN.

Among the groups who were previously prohibited from donating blood are gay men, women who have had sex with gay men, and people who had recently gotten tattoos or piercings. While these groups originally had to wait one year to donate blood, they now have to wait only three months, and must still undergo tests to confirm that they do not have such diseases as HIV.

Dr. Peter Marks, the Director of the Center for Biologics and Evaluation Research at the FDA, said that people who are taking drugs to prevent contracting HIV may also be permitted to give blood, but those decisions are ultimately to be made by individual donation centers.

The changes were made due to an “urgent” shortage of blood donations in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. “We expect that the updated guidance and alternative procedures will help increase the number of donations moving forward,” Dr. Marks said in a statement, “while helping to ensure adequate protections for donor health and maintaining a safe blood supply for patients.”